Bubble
Type of site
no-code development platform
Headquarters
New York, New York
Area servedWorldwide
Founder(s)
  • Joshua Haas
  • Emmanuel Straschnov
URLbubble.io
CommercialYes
LaunchedJune 21, 2012 (2012-06-21)
Current statusActive

Bubble is a visual programming language, a no-code development platform and an application platform as a service, developed by Bubble Group, that enables non-technical people to build web applications without needing to type code. Instead, users draw the interface by dragging and dropping elements onto a page and defining workflows to control the logic. Bubble's vision is to make hand-coding for web applications largely obsolete.[1]

Overview

Bubble's visual development platform is used to create websites and web applications with more advanced functionality than what is possible with template-oriented website builders such as Wix and Squarespace. It is used by non-technical startup founders, in schools for education purposes, and by other organizations for commercial purposes.[2][3][4]

Bubble allows users to build web applications including social media sites like Twitter, marketplaces like Airbnb and Uber, services like Instacart, and more through tutorials.[5] Bubble offers its own API integrations, templates and plugins. Users of the platform have also created new third-party templates, plugins and service built within the Bubble eco-system.[6]

History

Bubble[7] was founded by Emmanuel Straschnov and Josh Haas in 2012 in New York.[8][9] Bubble has been bootstrapped for seven years.[10] In 2019, Bubble raised $6M from SignalFire, Neo, Nas, Eric Ries and the founders of Warby Parker, Allbirds, Okta, Harry's.[11] In 2021, Bubble raised $100M.[12] Bubble was named one of Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies of 2021.[13] Web traffic to Bubble's websites have increased at a compounded growth rate greater than 50% from 2017 to 2021.[14]

Major Events

2023 Pricing Model Controversy

In April 2023, Bubble.io announced a controversial change to its pricing model, introducing a new metric called "workload units." This change followed an earlier attempt in March 2022 to shift the pricing model based on database entries, which had also been met with considerable backlash from the user community.[15][16]

The goal of the new pricing model was to address sustainability issues due to most users running on lower pricing tiers regardless of their usage or size. Bubble.io aimed to align its revenue more closely with the scaling of users' applications on their platform, rather than relying on capacity.[15]

However, the changes sparked significant controversy within the Bubble.io community. The announcement thread on the company's forum quickly garnered over 2000 replies, with many users expressing dissatisfaction and threatening to leave the platform. Critics argued that the new pricing model could lead to disproportionate costs and felt that their needs and concerns were not adequately considered before the implementation of the change.[15][17]

Bubble.io responded to the criticism by reaching out to affected users individually to provide optimization support and held a live webinar to provide further guidance and elaboration on the changes. The company also committed to improving bulk data operations, an area of concern highlighted by users, and to make file storage more affordable in the new pricing model.[17]

Despite the controversy, Bubble.io founder Emmanuel Straschnov stated that "Most apps will have a sufficient amount of workload included in their plan and won’t need to subscribe to an additional tier," suggesting that the new model was designed to cater to a majority of users without imposing additional costs.[18]

References

  1. ↑ "Will software that writes code alter tech’s script?", Financial Times, London, September 5, 2015.
  2. ↑ McCormick, Emily. "These tech jobs may disappear in the face of automation". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  3. ↑ Zimmerman, Eilene (November 14, 2014). "Building a Serious Website Without Serious, or Any, Coding Skills". The New York Times. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
  4. ↑ LaGreca, Adam (July 22, 2016). "Dear Google, the future is fewer people writing code". TechCrunch. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
  5. ↑ Shadel, J. D. "How a Twitter clone heralded a no-code boom". www.bbc.com. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Zeroqode will usher us into a codeless future". TechCrunch. January 11, 2018. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  7. ↑ Dillet, Romain (November 11, 2018). "The founders of Bubble want to put programmers out of work". TechCrunch.com. Retrieved November 22, 2018.
  8. ↑ Woods, Tyler (July 28, 2015). "The founders of Bubble want to put programmers out of work". Technical.ly. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
  9. ↑ Kepes, Ben (December 22, 2015). "Bubble, Bubble, ending the developer struggle?". Computerworld. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
  10. ↑ "How Bubble founders are making coding obsolete". Mixergy. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  11. ↑ "Bubble lands $6.25M seed round from founders of Allbirds, Harry's, MuleSoft | Built In NYC". www.builtinnyc.com.
  12. ↑ Lee, Jane (July 27, 2021). "'No-code' startup Bubble raises $100 mln in round led by Insight Partners". Reuters. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  13. ↑ "The 10 most innovative small and mighty companies of 2021". FastCompany. March 9, 2021. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  14. ↑ "The Definitive Bubble Review: A Flexible No Code App Builder Growing Over 50%". Ayrshare. November 2, 2021. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  15. 1 2 3 Josh, Josh (April 12, 2023). "An Update to Workload, Plus More Transparent Calculations". Bubble Forum. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  16. ↑ "Upcoming Changes to Bubble's Pricing Plans in 2023". Bubble Blog.
  17. 1 2 Afanasyeva, Tatiana (April 7, 2023). "More context on our changes to pricing - FAQs answered". Bubble Forum.
  18. ↑ Nihoul, Victor (April 6, 2023). "Analysis of Bubble.io New Pricing Model". Flusk Blog.
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